Beaux Arts

The purpose of Beaux Arts, Inc. is exclusively educational and charitable:

To continue community outreach programs at the Lowe Art Museum and introduce handicapped and underserved children to the cultural arts

To provide improvements, equipment, and financial assistance for exhibitions

To promote interest in the Museum of the University of Miami

To encourage a more thorough understanding and appreciation of the Arts

History

Beaux Arts was founded in the spring of 1952 by fifty members under the direction of Ann Atkinson, the assistant Director of the newly built Joe and Emily Lowe Art Gallery. The organization has grown to 100 active members and over 200 active associate members.

The first Festival of Art (formerly “Clothesline Sale”) was held in the spring of 1952 in order to give young artists a chance to meet the buying public. The Festival became an annual project and is now recognized as one of the leading art shows in Florida. The 2003 Festival netted nearly $100,000, with over 250 artists from all over the country, drawing crowds in excess of 150,000. In 1953, Beaux Arts built the Children’s Pavilion to provide art classes for children. The facility was later enclosed, then renovated and enlarged in 1994. Committee members organize, supervise, and operate year-round classes, which offer opportunities for children of various ages to study a variety of disciplines under local artists. Today Beaux Arts provides scholarships enabling selected students to attend the Museum art classes.

Other successful Beaux Arts programs have included the founding of the Docent Committee, now the Docent Program of the Lowe Art Museum. In 1974, the Museum store was opened under the direction of Beaux Arts and became financially successful in less than one year, with the management of the store now turned over to the Docents of the Lowe Art Museum. In 1974, Beaux Arts members produced its first cookbook of regional recipes, Seasons in the Sun. Our latest cookbook, Tropical Seasons, continues to provide additional program funding.

Programs

HANDS ON! A Children’s Celebration of Art is a program designed to provide art experience to the children of South Florida. This project involves free busing, a guided tour of the Museum’s exhibitions, hands on time to “create” under local artists’ supervision, refreshments, and entertainment relating to the exhibition.

The Student Artist Showcase, now entering its third year, involves high school and middle school student artists in the Beaux Arts Festival of Art. Students are invited to participate by submitting their artwork, which is entered in a juried contest. All entries are displayed at the Lowe Art Museum and the winners of the various categories receive cash prizes and get the opportunity to exhibit their artwork at the Festival.